Long Wharf scene. Photo by Kevin Flight.
UPDATE: Body identified as that of Eric Munsell.
Boston firefighters and police detectives are at Long Wharf, where a body was found in the water at the marina on the Columbus Park/Commercial Wharf side around 12:30 p.m.
Long Wharf is near where Eric Munsell of the North End was last seen in February.
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Oh dear
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 12:55pm
So sad for the person who spotted the unfortunate, the rescuers, and the surviving folks.
Why
By anon
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 1:04pm
Did they have 50+ people respond?
Better safe than sorry
By adamg
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 1:08pm
I think that's the basic principle BFD operates on, although I'm not sure it was 50 people who showed up (there are, what, 4 people per engine? And not all of those are engines). They were pretty quickly released from the scene once the chief (I think it was) realized what was going on and that it was just one person.
From my little knowledge
By brianjdamico
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 1:30pm
"Person in the water" = Division Tech Rescue response. So a combination of Engines and Ladders and one of the Rescues (4 men on each, sometimes a 5th), a few district chiefs, a deputy chief. In water rescues, the fire boat responds, as well as Engine 20 who responds with the dive team truck kept in their firehouse, and any fire company that has an on duty member of the BFD dive team responds. If necessary, such as when the body is not so easily recoverable, the off duty members of the dive team may also be called in.
Responses are standard, it makes no difference if the person/body is floating on the edge of a pier, in the Charles, in the middle of the harbor or in a pond, when that call comes in, the response is dispatched. Then its up to the incident commander on scene to determine if he needs to keep all of those units there, or if the situation can/has been resolved with less.
Thanks for clarifying
By adamg
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 1:36pm
Also, in this case, the BFD maritime unit (i.e., the fire boat), was told it wasn't needed. Same for divers.
Also.....
By Pete Nice
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 1:46pm
You never know if there are more bodies like if a boat capsized or something. You never know.
It's pretty standard...
By MatthewC
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 1:59pm
In maritime search and rescue, we have an unofficial motto: "Launch the world". You can always call people back. I'm sure it's the same with land based first responders. As another commenter said, better safe than sorry.
Body found at Lynn beach
By Patricia
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 1:12pm
Body found at Lynn beach today as well.
Another?
By BostonUrbEx
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 2:05pm
That was yesterday, unless there's another one.
So at what point will BPD
By Anon
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 2:19pm
So at what point will BPD admit that the bodies of 20-something males being found in the water here almost regularly the last few years isn't a coincidence?
You want more alcohol stings?
By Pete Nice
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 2:44pm
More arrests for underaged drinkers?
More protective custudy arrests?
More section 12s (involuntary mental health comittments) for public health?
Higher railings and fences around the harbor?
Whats there to admit really?
They've been finding bodies for 375 years in Boston Harbor
By Waquiot
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 2:46pm
Since there have been wharves, people have been falling off them. Since there have been bridges, people have been falling off them. Since other things have been taking place, which I will not mention out of respect for whoever was found today (I don't know how he ended up in the water, and neither do you), bodies have been found floating in the harbor.
No conspiracy here, though perhaps a public safety campaign might be in order.
This wasn't an accident
By applepie
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 9:43pm
This wasn't an accident though. This kid disappeared in February.
How do you know that his death wasn't an accident?
By Ron Newman
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 10:18pm
Yes, and ...
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 10:47pm
It is not at all uncommon for those lost in the coldest part of the winter to surface at this time of year. Same thing happened to that BC student.
The conspiracy kooks have
By anon
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 3:22pm
The conspiracy kooks have been suggesting a serial killer since the 1960s. It's such a dead horse it's been beaten to dust. Drunk males + bodies of water = enough trouble to explain everything without the tinfoil.
If there's been a significant
By Anon
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 3:52pm
If there's been a significant uptick in recent years combined with all of the victims fitting a similar profile I would say it would warrant at the very least looking into the possibility of something more sinister going on. If the number of male bodies being found in the water has been consistent over the last 30+ years then you're right, these are just similar accidents. Unfortunately I don't think anyone in the public is privy to these statistics.
I think someone has tried to
By Hyde_Parker
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 4:21pm
I think someone has tried to look into these cases but haven't been able to find anything conclusive.
No, It's Pretty Conclusive
By anon
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 4:49pm
"To date, we have not developed any evidence to support links between these tragic deaths or any evidence substantiating the theory that these deaths are the work of a serial killer or killers."
(That's from an FBI statement on similar cases in the midwest, but the same people make the same claims about deaths here in Boston.)
http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fb...
No, there hasn't
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 10:50pm
Unlike the time my crew on the Charles found a body in 1986, these things are now news.
Back then, without people tweeting and posting, these things weren't reported on. I never saw any report on that woman, and I can still remember what her cold skin felt like when I checked for a pulse, but her sad untimely demise wasn't news. It was a private tragedy.
These things are tweeted, reported, noted, discussed now. That is your "uptick".
Look up the accidental drowning stats - Boston, given the high proportion of the highest risk group in the population, is actually doing extremely well (check earlier threads for the CDC links). The stats are not secret - they are pretty open.
In places without so much water? Kids fall off buildings and out windows. The risk has to do with being a young adult prone to misadventure.
Some general information: http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/water...
that also makes it a great
By wesh
Sat, 05/10/2014 - 8:38pm
that also makes it a great way to cover up a murder. anyway, many of these recent fatalities weren't drunk when they were last seen. If you can have a few beers without accidentally stepping into the street and getting hit by a car you can have a few beers and not fall into boston harbor. Both of the deceased over the past few years were last seen a ways away from the wharf, in the north end. On a February night in Boston. Someone would probably have to hold me at gunpoint to get me to walk down to the wharf in that cold
Wha?
By adamg
Sat, 05/10/2014 - 8:47pm
The last anybody saw of poor Eric Munsell was on a surveillance camera near Long Wharf - which is right on the water.
20-something males + alcohol + water
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 04/23/2014 - 10:45pm
= a huge proportion of accidental drowning deaths pretty much anywhere they mix
Just like young adults + alcohol + windows and roofs = falling deaths
Toss in a boat for good measure = typical boating-related death, too
No conspiracy to that. No happy face, no nothing. Just bad luck and the price of doing business as a young adult, unfortunately.
Want it to slow down/stop? Lobby for better education among the college-age set.
There's a section of Harborwalk
By Chris Rich
Thu, 04/24/2014 - 1:17am
..between Rowes and the Aquarium that has no railing and is insanely treacherous in winter from ice.
I made a walk video there on 12/21 and the remnant ice slicks were well placed for pitching a person into the drink.
You don't even have to be drunk but it would increase the chances and then, add darkness and it's almost a sure thing.
Another section along Columbus Park is a good candidate. That one has full sized rat proof metal trash containment things tossed in and the city hasn't fished em out.
I agree
By Rob
Thu, 04/24/2014 - 12:05pm
but only to a point. Remember Jonathan Dailey? Did the BPD ever solve or explain why he was tied to a cinder block? I feel like cases such as these just get swept under the rug.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/10/jonathan-...
I followed that story for a while and it's terribly sad. However, given many of the details, it also does not seem like a suicide. Smiley face murder theory? Maybe, maybe not.
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